Arlington, TX – Tony Romo threw a pair of first half touchdowns and 137 yards on 13-of-18 efficiency, as the Dallas Cowboys defeated the Cincinnati Bengals, 24-18, on Saturday.
Dez Bryant and Miles Austin each hauled in a touchdown pass from Romo, with Bryant finishing with six catches for 54 yards. Austin had 59 yards on four receptions for the Cowboys, who will wrap up their preseason Thursday against the Houston Texans.
The Cowboys had an excellent three-headed rushing attack as well. Julius Randle ran for 66 yards on 16 carries, DeMarco Murray caught a touchdown and had 51 yards on 12 rushes and Phillip Tanner had 39 yards on 14 totes.
Andy Dalton ended 12-of-16 for 113 yards, but threw an interception with the Cincinnati offense failing to score in the first half while accumulating only 101 total yards of offense.
The Bengals' initial drive stalled abruptly when wide receiver Marvin Jones fumbled on the Dallas 5, however, their special teams were able to capitalize later on.
Dallas was forced to re-punt after Chris Jones' kick touched the scoreboard and Brandon Tate capitalized on the extra opportunity, with the return man taking Jones' next punt 75 yards the other way to give Cincinnati a 7-0 lead.
Romo and Bryant got into rhythm and hooked up five times on the Cowboys' next touch, with Bryant's 5-yard touchdown catch putting Dallas on the board early in the second quarter. The Cowboys then jumped in front with 40 seconds to go in the half when Romo found Austin for a 12-yard score.
Cincinnati got a 28-yard field goal from Quinn Sharp after halftime to make it 14-10, but the Cowboys came right back. Murray ran eight times for 45 yards before hauling in a 7-yard touchdown pass from Kyle Orton.
In the fourth, Josh Johnson connected with Cobi Hamilton for a four-yard score and then completed a pass to Ryan Whalen on the two-point conversion to cut Cincinnati's deficit to 21-18.
Dan Bailey, though, kicked a 26-yard field goal on Dallas' ensuing possession and Xavier Brewer picked off Johnson to secure the win.
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